| |
Olivia stepped through the door into the engine room and stopped. The sight of Vlasa wedged into a corner with wires running out of his body unnerved her. She had known what to expect, but seeing it was different when she had to face it in person.
The rest of the crew had already arrived, and while she stood there, Ariana said, “Good, Olivia, help Squee and Noah take Vlasa to sickbay.”
The big Rokma bend down and effortlessly lifted Vlasa off the floor. Noah took hold of his legs and the pair started for the door. Almost too late, Olivia realized she needed to get ahead of them and dashed back out of the room. She led the short distance to the ships small sickbay, opening the door for them and clearing off the lone bed.
Squee and Noah hefted Vlasa up and onto the bed. Olivia disconnected the frayed power cable and took a different one from a piece of medical equipment. She plugged Vlasa’s chest piece into a power port and then the three of them stood helplessly at the unconscious Echanic.
“Is it always like this?” Squee asked into the silence.
“This is my first trip.” Olivia said and turned to look at Noah.
The older man shook his head, “We’ve dodged a few pirates before. But by dodge I mean changed course. No one’s ever tried to kill us before.”
“So, who are these people? And what do they want with Javi?” Olivia asked.
“That is a very good question. I say we go find out.” Noah said.
“The captain is questioning Javi now. She will reveal to us what we need to know.” Squee said, though he glanced eagerly at the door.
“I’m not so sure about that.” Noah said, “Javi is some kind of big honcho for some political group. LDF or something. Captain seemed rather reluctant to talk about why Javi was so keen to get to Triask. I think she knows more than she’s telling us already.”
“LDF? Do you mean LFD? Live Free or Die?” Olivia asked.
Noah snapped his fingers, “That’s the one.”
“I know a couple kids who signed up with them to go and do something. They weren’t exactly forthcoming with details. It was work though, so some people took it.”
“I think they are the people who are after Javi.” Noah said and gestured to Squee. “Remember that flag Javi claimed to not recognize? I confronted him about it, but he buttoned up real tight. So I did a little snooping. Found something similar in his room.”
“You broke into Javi’s room?” Olivia gasped.
“Wasn’t the first time. Did a security sweep when he came on board.” Noah gave a shrug, “Can’t be too careful.”
“Did you break into my room too?”
“Nah. You’re just a kid. Besides, you didn’t really bring much with you.”
Olivia frowned, not sure if she should be relieved or insulted. True, she didn’t own much beside a few changes of clothes and some flight manuals. But being a kid didn’t make her less of a threat.
“Well, I want to find out what’s going on.” Noah said and left sickbay. Olivia exchanged a glance with Squee. The big Rokma shrugged and then they both followed Noah back to engineering.
They found Ariana and Javi still in the engine room in the midst of an intense conversation. When Noah entered, they grew quiet and backed away from each other. Ariana did not look happy.
“How’s Vlasa?” Javi asked.
“Who knows,” Noah said. “I’m not a doctor.”
“Well, we’re going to get him one.” Ariana said, “But we can’t go back to the Hub. Olivia, we’re going to need to plot a rather convoluted course to avoid New Echera, Hera and Proxima.”
“We wouldn’t happen to be trying to avoid Javi’s LFD buddies, now would we?” Noah asked.
“Actually, we are.”
“Captain, what’s going on?” Olivia asked desperately, “We’ve been attacked twice in as many days. Now we’re avoiding major transit systems?”
Ariana cast a pointed look at Javi, “Are you going to tell them, or am I?”
Javi let out a heavy sigh, “I did not think my presence would put all of you in danger. Like many things in my life, I miscalculated the risks.”
No one said anything, but looked pointedly at the Slu. Javi dipped his eyestalks low and continued, “I was one of the founding members of Live Free or Die. Until recently, we were devoted to opposing the PUG’s control of the galaxy. Peacefully. But the organization has gone through some...changes. I left over some philosophical differences.”
“And now they want to kill you? Over a philosophical difference?” Noah asked.
“Not exactly. I stole something.”
“You stole something? What the hell could you have possibly stolen that would make anyone send a fleet after you?”
“Attack plans. Next month, during the Memorial Festival, they intend to attack PUG headquarters and eliminate central authority from the galaxy.”
“Seriously?” Olivia asked.
“That’s pretty hardcore. Stupid, but hardcore.” Noah said nodding, “That was not a small size fleet, but they’ll never be able to oppose the PUG fleet with it. They’ll get wiped out.”
“That’s the other thing I stole.” Javi said, “They have also developed a secret weapon. They have constructed a new, central AI. With it they’ll be able to control all of the drone ships that vanished at the end of the war.”
Olivia felt herself shudder, and she pulled her arms tight around herself, “Drone ships? Weren’t they all destroyed?”
“No.” Ariana said, her voice flat and distant, “The PUG fleet managed to destroy the central AI that had control of the others. That sent the remaining units into disarray. Some of the older, more advanced models, free of the control, turned themselves in, ashamed about what they had done. Those were granted sentient status if they agreed to remove their wifi components.
“But most of the warships, drone’s built and heavily corrupted by the central brain, disappeared. It’s theorized that most of these weren’t truly independent intelligence anymore, and couldn’t function without direction. There are still reports of ships running into these warships. It usually doesn’t end well for them.”
“So, they could come back?” Olivia asked nervously.
“Anything’s possible.”
“More than possible.” Javi insisted, “LFD has done it. They have already started to gather the drones. They are going to attack.”
A flash of memory rose in Olivia’s mind. Darkness interrupted by brief flashes of light. Loud noises. A tall, metallic figure on tracked wheels moving toward her. Her mother’s unmoving body covering her. The memory, even though it was more than a decade ago, still felt fresh, as if it had just occurred. She could picture everything in vivid detail.
Silence hung over the room for a minute. Noah eventually cleared his throat, “I don’t want to be that guy, but hell, I am, so I’ll just ask it, is this really something we want to get involved in?
Ariana’s frown deepened, and she said, “I may not be a big fan of the PUG, but if any of this is true, we have to warn them. Even if Javi’s wrong about this central AI, they could still cause some damage with that fleet.”
“Sure, but that’s not our problem, is it? I mean, maybe it would be good for the PUG to get taken down a notch or two.”
“How can you even say that?” Olivia balked, “The AI tried to wipe out all life in the galaxy.”
“Right, that’s why the PUG exists. To fight the AI. All I’m saying is, if Javi’s wrong about the AI bit, what do we need the PUG for? And if he’s right, fighting the AI is kind of their thing. We don’t play a role there.”
Frantically, Olivia said, “What do you mean, ‘if’? There were drone warships in that fleet. I thought I just saw things because of the hangover. But now I know it was real. The AI is back.”
Everyone turned to face her and Olivia shrank back involuntarily. Squee spoke first, “You saw an AI ship?”
She nodded, “I did. Just before the sensor array went down.”
“That means they’re ahead of schedule.” Javi said, and shriveled up some. “I knew I had to stop him, but I didn’t really think he could pull it off.”
Decisively, Ariana said, “This isn’t theoretical anymore. And this isn’t something we can just look the other way on. They’ve attacked us. They’re hunting us. We may not want to be involved, but we’re already involved. It doesn’t matter how or why any more. We just have to deal with it. But first, we need to get some help for Vlasa.”
Ariana cast a look at everyone in the room. When her eyes passed over Olivia, she felt no inclination to disagree. The idea of fighting the AI kept bringing her back to the fate that had befallen her parents. She couldn’t raise an argument against trying to stop someone from using the AI.
“Now, LFD has control of several big transit hubs, so they cut off a lot of potential routes. To reach Triask, we’re down to two potential transit sectors: J-25 and M-21.”
“Isn’t J region where the AI was supposed to have gone after the war?” Noah asked.
“That was only a rumor.” Ariana said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “It’s barely been charted. It should be easy to avoid LFD spotting us.”
“No!” Olivia said forcefully. When everyone turned to look at her, she cast her eyes down nervously, “If the AI are there, and LFD can control the AI, they would be able to find us.”
“Good point.” Ariana said, “Okay, M-21 it is then. The station is a pretty open port. We should be able to slip in without too much notice, and there are bound to be Echanic doctors onboard.”
“That’s not a good idea either,” Noah said.
“Why not?”
“Don’t you know what M-21 station is usually called?”
Ariana just shook her head, and Noah continued, “Slaver’s Paradise. Not the kind of place we should be hanging out.”
“Oh please, Noah, that’s just a nasty rumor about M-21 started by people on the Hub to drive business away,” Olivia said, scouring at Noah.
“You sure about that, kid?” Noah asked. The sudden sincerity in his voice left Olivia for a loss of words. Something in his expression left her wondering if there was more he wasn’t saying.
“I’ll take creepy reputation over facing more AI any day. Especially if those chasing us might be able to control them. Olivia, plot the shortest course you can.” Ariana ordered.